Autopsy Report: Suspect Admitted Killing Miss. Mayoral Hopeful

The report says Lawrence Reed admitted to killing Marco McMillian, a gay candidate in Clarksdale, and provides details of McMillian's death.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

May 04 2013 12:30 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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An autopsy report on the death of a gay Mississippi politician says he died from lack of oxygen and that the man charged with his murder admitted to killing him.

Clarksdale mayoral hopeful Marco McMillian "died from a lack of oxygen, but exactly what caused that could not be determined," the Associated Press reports today. The document from state medical examiner Mark LeVaughn was dated Wednesday.

"Additional autopsy findings that most likely contributed to his death are multiple areas of blunt force trauma to the head that are consistent with a beating," LeVaughn wrote. He also said suspect Lawrence Reed "admitted to killing" McMillian and leaving his body near a Mississippi River levee.

McMillian's body was found February 27, a day after Reed crashed the candidate's SUV. The medical examiner's report also notes there were abrasions, lacerations, and burns on McMillian's body. Read more here.